


Daisuki

by KBZ



Category: Eyeshield 21
Genre: Dorks in Love, F/M, Fluff, Getting Together - Freeform, Jealousy, M/M, Meddling Kids, Misunderstandings, One-Sided Attraction, Pre-Slash, Texting, Title is subject to change as i think of something better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 17:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17165999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KBZ/pseuds/KBZ
Summary: Sena gets confessed to after the Alexander’s game by a cute girl. He turns her down.





	Daisuki

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, I have a similar story called 'Somewhere Beyond the Sea' that's a touch bittersweet on ffnet. Honestly, I had this story in my folder for a relatively short time. I first came up with the idea (according to Word) in June, so getting this out now is pretty short turnout rate for me, considering I work in bits and pieces. Originally there was only a scene with Riku, but I felt that I was letting a good opportunity go to waste, so here we are.
> 
> Review if you enjoyed it :)

 

“I really admire you! Please go on a date with me!”

The girl in front of him was named Asari. She was holding out an embroidered kerchief. Under the white stitching of his jersey number was a red devilbat grinning up at him with sharp crossed-stitched teeth. Sena felt his face heat up. They shared a class together and she was cute: braided dark hair, cherry earrings, tiny freckle on her cheek. And yet…

“Hmhua?” Is all that came out of Sena’s mouth. He gaped at Asari for a moment, trying to compose himself. She looked at him determinedly. He finally managed to recover enough. “Just I-I, I d-don’t… I mean, I’m just… I’m trying to concentrate on f-football right now…” Sena wondered if it was healthy for his face to be this hot. He wished the earth could crack open for him to dive into it.

Asari stiffened. Her eyes were shiny but motivated. “Then I will continue to be Sena-kun’s number one fan until he’s ready! And don’t think you’ll be getting _this_ ,” she unfurled the kerchief dramatically, “until you’ve said yes!” She bowed quickly and hastily made her way back to class.

“W-wait, no, I don’t... I’m not…”

“Dude,” Monta said from out of nowhere, patting Sena’s back. Sena couldn’t bare facing his best friend after such a humiliating loss at the hand of the fairer sex.

“How much of that did you see?” Sena mumbled into his hands, feeble. He felt like he had just been tackled by Shin. His legs were jelly.

“ _Dude_.” Monta gave him another sympathetic pat on the back. “No offense, but that was painful to watch.”

“Mergh.”

“She was pretty cute, though. Why’d you turn her down?”

_(steel eyes, adrenaline, side-by-side)_

“I just, you know, have a lot going on right now I guess,” Sena said, his voice still muffled by his hands.

* * *

 

“Go Sena-kun!” Asari yelled. She was sitting on a hill overlooking the grass fields and waved Sena’s kerchief in the air every time Sena neared her.

“I thought this was a closed practice,” Suzuna grumbled, ruffling her pompoms as she leaned against the water cooler. “Isn’t she distracting the players? Huh, Sena? You’re being distracted, right?!”

‘It’s you who’s being distracting,’ Sena thought, sweat dropping at Suzuna’s growing agitation. He took a sip of water, avoiding Asari’s enthusiastic yells. “I can’t just tell her to leave…”

“Why not?”

Monta neared them, empty water bottle in hand. “ _First off,_ Sena can’t even talk to a girl without clamming up, much less a cute one.”

“Sena can talk to me just fine,” Suzuna said.

“You don’t count. I said a cute-”

“You really wanna finish that sentence?”

Monta coughed into his fist, having narrowly missed an early death, “As I was saying. Sena’s bad at talking to cute girls that he doesn’t know. And _second_ , he’s gonna have to deal with this kind of attention from now on.”

“I’m _what_.” Sena turned sharply to look at them.

“Man to man, I admit that you are… the ace of the team,” Monta grit out. “ _For now_ , may I add! And with that comes the admiration from beautiful women. So enjoy it while you can, because I will be Deimon’s ace and I will have Mamo- uh, I mean… the attention of a devoted fanclub!”

“I can’t believe I let you talk that long,” Suzuna bonked Monta over the head with a pompom. “You said nothing helpful or relevant.”

Sena, meanwhile, sneaked off to sip his water in peace. Or relative peace, as Asari let out another cheer dedicated just for him. He spotted Hiruma from across the field giving a speculative look in the direction of Asari, and only wondered at the horrors that his captain was thinking. ‘Asari-san doesn’t like me enough to actually sell her soul to Hiruma-san in exchange for some personal item, right?’ He resolved to count over his underwear when he got home, just in case. ‘No! I’m being an idiot.’ He slapped his helmet and got back to practice. He couldn’t help the feeling of something being off, and he had a sinking suspicion that Hiruma would be behind whatever fell through due to it.

Sena’s gut instincts were rarely wrong.

* * *

 

Sena’s mind had been in such a haphazard state, that he’d dedicated twenty minutes extra sprinting at the end of practice to make up for it. The locker room was empty by the time he entered. Sena checked his phone as he changed out of his clothes. That was something he rarely did (the same handful of people were the only ones that messaged him, and he had to be careful since he didn’t have an unlimited plan).

 _23 unread messages_ it read. Sena’s mind instantly went into fight-or-flight mode. ‘Holy shit, what did I do? Did someone die? Did _I_ die?’ He never had more than a few messages when he finished practice. Before he could flip his phone open, he heard someone clear their voice behind him.

Jumonji stood before him, arms crossed. His hair dripped and his clothes stuck to his skin, like he’d been in a rush to get changed. He didn’t say anything, just. Frowned, affronted.

Sena decided to try a greeting. He licked his lips. “What’s up-”

“Why do you have a personal cheerleader.”

‘Right to the point.’ “Ah, you, um, you noticed that? Ahah…” Sena rubbed a hand through his sweaty hair. Jumonji stood his ground, tracking his movements.

“Hard not to.”

“Right, er, you see… She… is… a friend of mine! Right. And she’s… just… um, very supportive?”

“Didn’t she confess to you?”

“Monta told you, didn’t he? I told her I couldn’t d-date her, because you know, school and football and stuff…”

“She barely knows you.” Jumonji’s face was pink now. The cross-shaped scar on his cheek didn’t change color. It remained pale against his coloring face.

“Eh?” Sena didn’t know what he was actually confused about (though he was confused about a lot of things, in general).

“Just sayin’. Wouldn’t you want to date someone who knew you better? That you could relate to? Healthy relationships are based on similar experiences and shit, right?”

Sena squinted. His brain was going haywire trying to process today’s events. He wasn’t the quickest on pickup on the best of days, so today was really testing how shrewd he could be. (It didn’t help that no one around him spoke in direct, straightforward ways.) “Is this… some kind of test? Am I supposed to… to prove my loyalty to the team by not dating anyone?”

“No, dumbass! I’m just trying to offer advice and be a good friend!” Jumonji threw his hands in the air. His face was beat red, the scar on his cheek pale-white through his exasperation. His aggressive tone didn’t match the… ahem, delicate subject matter. “And you could date people and still be loyal to the team!”

Sena wracked his head for what Jumonji meant by that. It sounded like he meant two different things. “Are you suggesting…? I-I don’t know if I feel that way about Suzuna…”

Jumonji looked… He looked like he wanted to pull out his hair in frustration and admonish Sena in equal parts. What had Sena said to make Jumonji so angry? Unless…

“I mean! Not that there’s anything wrong with Suzuna! She’s a lovely girl by all accounts! If you were interested in her, I would surely not interfere and-!”

“No!” Jumonji’s face was almost comically surprised. What was Sena _not getting_?

“Oh,” Sena said, realization dawning on him. “Oh my god, Jumonji.”

Jumonji looked at him with a mix of apprehension and something else.

“I… I didn’t know you liked Asari-san! _Of course_ I won’t date her!” Sena flailed his arms in denial as he tried to be reassuring.

“…”

‘Hiee… I don’t think that was the right answer,’ Sena cried internally.

“Even if you don’t like her at the moment,” Jumonji said, his tone changing to something peculiar that Sena couldn’t quite place. It almost sounded like Sena was missing out on a joke. “Doesn’t mean you won’t in the future.”Jumonji eyeballed him sharply. “You had someone else in mind when you turned her down?”

_(side-by-side, the river bank, barely-there smiles)_

“It wouldn’t be fair to Asari-san,” Sena said after a beat. “If I got her hopes up for a little bit knowing I don’t feel the same… wouldn’t that be cruel?”

“You can grow attraction, the more you do stuff together. Maybe you didn’t like her to begin with, but as you got to know them better, you know? If you... gave them a shot, you’d find that you guys had more in common than you thought, and maybe you could, y’know, end up liking them back or something.”

“I thought – I thought you didn’t want me to go on a date with Asari-?”

“It was just a metaphor! Fuck, you couldn’t jump to a reasonable conclusion if it tripped you, hah?” Jumonji asked, half accusing.

‘Am I being bullied right now? Why don’t people just say what they want to say?’

Jumonji closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. A vein was starting to pop on his forehead. “You’re f- really dense. But. You have a lot of qualities that are. Admirable. That I personally admire. And… you’re agreeable, aesthetically.” Jumonji opened his eyes and stared Sena down, as if to dare him to say anything.

“T-thanks, I think.”

“Dense. Really dense,” Jumonji said once more almost to himself, shaking his head, before pointing an accusing finger at Sena. “Don’t go out with that Asari girl. See you tomorrow at practice.”

Once Jumonji left the locker room, Sena let out a huge breath of air that he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding in. He glanced at himself in a mirror. His shoulders were up to his neck with tension. Pressing his hand over his chest, he realized his heart had been furiously beating as well. All of that flurry had happened in less than five minutes.

“Stressful,” he murmured before undressing and heading to the showers.

* * *

It was after dinner, and Sena sat at his desk, his phone in front of him. It was 8:34 pm, and Sena had spent the whole night delaying the inevitable. He’d eaten a leisurely dinner, taken a hot bath, cleaned out the litter box, and even got ahead on his homework, all the while keeping an eye on the rising number of notifications and missed calls. Eventually, his curiosity had finally beat out his trepidation. Whatever he’d done to piss off the entirety of the Japanese high school football scene (for those were the only people he had in his contacts list), he needed to know.

_37 unread messages._

‘Well… It can’t be that bad. It can’t…’

He flipped his phone open. He worried at his lip with his teeth, seeing the flood of messages from familiar names. It looked like everyone he had played against had sent him a message, even some of the managers. Some had sent him multiple messages, even. Sena groaned lightly, running through a list of embarrassing moments that could have caused such a commotion (a majority of which involved Hiruma, and the rest involved Mamori’s younger years).

‘Let’s see,’ Sena dredged up some (rightfully) repressed memories (that he wish could have stayed repressed). ‘The time with the cheerleader costume… the zoo photo where I got d-drunk… that video I did for 6th year English, _that_ was bad…’ Sena rubbed his face with both hands. He refused to go through any more embarrassing memories. He wanted this to be over. He would find out what happened that caused all this, write out a carefully written apology (not dissimilar to his apology to Sakuraba that was 65% “I’m sorry”), and hopefully get this mess cleaned up before eleven o’ clock. Easy.

‘Hngh.’

He flipped his phone open again, and scrolled to the chat with the first person who had messaged him.

* * *

_Text log with: Riku_

_(2:17 pm): hey, bro I heard some weird/good news about you recently_

_(2:17 pm): something about a lady friend?_

_(2:18 pm): not that it’s any of my business, but you know, you should let your big brother know when things like this happen. why u reject her though?_

* * *

How had Riku…? Riku just… maybe Mamori told him. He sent Riku a quick message the he simply didn’t have time to balance a relationship with everything that was on his plate at the moment. (Which was a lie, honestly. Sena’s after school hobbies included football and grooming Pitt. But Riku didn’t need to know that.) There was no way that… _that_ … was what this was about? _Surely_ not. No way. He checked the next dialogue thread even though his hands had started sweating.

* * *

_Group text with: Kakei, Mizumachi_

_Mizumachi (2:17 pm): Sena DUDE i heard you’re gonna smash soon???? how could u do this to kakei man but also congratz!!!_

_Kakei (2:17 pm): I apologize for his idiotic responses_

_Mizumachi (2:17 pm): lol you should have seen kakei when he read that message at first thought he was gonna blow up_

_Kakei (2:17 pm): That’s enough_

_Kakei (2:18 pm): It’s none of our business what you decide to do in your personal life. I’m sure you made a correct choice given the multitude of options before you!_

_Mizumachi (2:18 pm): hold up I took a pic of him reading that text LOL!!_

_Mizumachi (2:18 pm): [click to load multimedia message]_

_Mizumachi (2:18 pm): XD_

_[Kakei has left the group]_

_Mizumachi (2: 19 pm): he hit me DX_

_Mizumachi (2:19 pm): [click to load multimedia message]_

_Mizumachi (2:21 pm): whoopsie he’s sulking now u should come over and kiss him better haha_

* * *

_Text log with: Kakei_

_(2:18 pm) Disregard what _Mizumachi_ sent. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about and loves to butt in._

_(2:21 pm) Don’t open our group chat! He’s being an idiot right now_

* * *

Sena’s whole body was cold. He was having an out of body experience. No. The only logical explanation was:

“I am having a stroke,” Sena said, calm as a cucumber, to Pitt. She was snuggled up on his bed like a little cat loaf, naïve to the woes of her owner. What else could explain the… the…? Well, what was Kakei even trying to say? And _Mizumachi_ was always a joker, so _surely_ he meant the kissing line as a joke, right? His fingers were sweaty as he replied.

* * *

_Text log with: Kakei_

_(2:21 pm): Don’t open our group chat! He’s being an idiot right now_

**_(8:41 pm): I’m sorry for any discomfort you were put through I did read the message on accident Mizumachi-san has always been really funny with his jokes he’s not being serious I know that’s something you would not appreciate me doing I did not reciprocate Asari’s feelings that’s her name so I told her I would have to turn her down even though I’m not dating anyone I want to focus on football haha_ **

_(8:42 pm): Okay_

* * *

 

If Riku saw his text, he’d probably get a smack to the back of his head for being so unmanly. If Mamori saw it, she’d educate him on the proper use of punctuation. He smacked his phone against his head a few times anyway, because he probably deserved it.

Sena snapped his phone shut again; he’d seen enough. He rubbed at his burning cheeks and laid his head down atop his desk. His friends were embarrassing and overstepped their boundaries. All this over one confession? He hadn’t even said yes! His mind circled back to his friends’ main question. Why had he rejected Asari? She was sweet, smart, and well liked. He should like her. He _could_ like her. And why not? His mom would be happy to see him go on a date. His dad, too, probably. His mind raced and he pictured

_(barely-there smiles, grit, dedication)_

 – _nothing_.

‘Why not?’ He ignored the other unread messages and scrolled down to find Asari’s number in his contacts. It had been more or less forced upon him by Asari in case “he came to his senses.”

‘Why not? Why not? Why _not_?’ He ignored the little voice in his head telling him the reason.

Blankly, he stared at the small screen, thumbs twitching. What did he even say?

‘Good evening,’ he typed and immediately erased it. Good evening? _Good evening?_ Monta was right, he had no idea how to talk to girls. Well, cute girls. Well, cute girls interested in him. Before he could decide what to say, he got an incoming call from Yamato.

* * *

 

“Um… hello? Yamato-san?”

“Hey, Sena! We haven’t talked in a while, have we?”

“Y-Yeah, I guess it has been a while?” Sena couldn’t help but be on guard. He was, after all, having a mental breakdown and his friends were all sharing in one grand mass-hysteria. “Usually we text.”

“We sure do! I just meant in person is all.”

“R-Right.”

“We should remedy that, don’t you think?”

“Okay-”

“And I’m not talking about training, either. _Y’know_ , if you’re free.”

 _“You’re being too cryptid,_ ” A quieter voice said. Sena recognized it as Taka’s.

“Oh, yes, you’re on speaker by the way. Taka’s here, too. Don’t want to have you saying any embarrassing things that _you would only confess to me_ by accident,” Yamato laughed.

“H-Hi, um, Taka,” Sena gulped loudly into the phone. His brain was sensing red flags. ‘Why… why am I so nervous?’

_“…hey.”_

“Anyway,” Yamato said, stressing the syllabus. He seemed so eager and confident.

“Are you free sometime this weekend? I was meaning to head out to Tokyo” – _“Tell him I’ll also be there” –_ “Yeah, yeah, and Taka will be there too, if that sweetens the deal. You should come with! I know this great karaoke place.”

“Oh I don’t- I’m not a singer.”

“Ah,” Yamato’s deep voice had taken on a note of satisfaction. Sena was really sweating now. “Karaoke is still fun even if you can’t sing, isn’t that right Taka?”

 _“You should come, Sena_.”

“Actually,” Sena flipped through his planner, “I’m looking at my calendar right now, and I’m actually busy this weekend.”

“Is that so? Hmm, got plans with your girlfriend?”

“G- _Girlfriend?_ I don’t- I’m not-!” Sena shook his head for all he was worth. Yamato and Taka could probably sense his embarrassment miles away.

“Ah, so you _did_ turn her down. Pity. That’s too bad.” Yamato did not sound very sympathetic. “And you don’t have a boyfriend, then?”

“N-No, I’m not in a- there’s no one like-!” Sena felt tongue-tied.

“Okay, well, how about we push back our karaoke date to the weekend after this one?”

“Erm, well,” Sena was being verbally blitzed. Knocking sounded from his door.

“Sena? There’s someone here asking to see you,” his mother said.

“Ah, can you hold on for a second, my mom’s calling.”

Hiruma _had_ sold him out to Asari! Be calm, be cool, _and look for exit points_. Everything was happening too much today.

“Um… are they girl?”

“No,” he almost heard his mother’s sly grin, “were you expecting someone?”

(“Who is it Sena?”

( _“Your admirer perhaps?”_

(“Popular, are we?”)

“No, no! I’ll be right down. Um, Yamato, Taka? Sorry I have to go, there’s someone here to, uh, see me?”

“What about our date?”

“I have to go, sorry!”

_“I told you that you were too pushy.”_

“Lay off, Taka. Alright we’ll talk later, Sena.”

_“Bye.”_

“B-Bye,” Sena said and hung up. He exhaled loudly, feeling frazzled. He smoothed down his hair anxiously. Was it Monta come to talk more about? He was the only that visited. It couldn’t be Riku, since his mom would have dropped his name. He rounded the stairs, but almost tripped when he saw Shin Seijuro waiting patiently at the door.

Sena’s mom and dad shared a look before excusing themselves upstairs.

“Shin-san,” Sena’s voice was high, wasn’t it? Why was his voice so high? “Er, I mean,” he lowered his voice unnaturally. “Good evening.”

‘Again with the formalities!’ Internally he was a roiling mess of nerves, externally a slightly smaller roiling mess of nerves.

“Excuse me for barging in. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”

“No, perfect timing! Not that I was expecting you! I wasn’t doing anything important.” ‘Just me wondering why I can’t be happy that a cute girl likes me.’ “Do you want anything to drink?”

“I’m fine.” Shin tilted his head slightly. Sena could feel Shin’s steely gray eyes analyze him. Goosebumps thrilled down his arms.

Sena shifted his weight from foot to foot. Sena wasn’t that good with words, and Shin was… terse. So Shin being in his house, staring at him (while he was wearing his most embarrassing pair of pajamas), while they stood almost twenty feet away from each other like a standoff on the field instead of a (hopefully) friendly visit didn’t really make it easier.

“So… what brings you around?”

“I was in the area.” Shin quirked his lips. ‘Was that… was that a joke?’ Sena’s eyes dropped to what Shin was wearing. Sweatshirt, training pants, running shoes.

“Oh. _Oh_ , I forgot! I totally forgot about our run! S-Sorry, today has just been… really strange, and I just. I’m so sorry!” Sena couldn’t help his flailing arms.

“Were you planning on seeing someone tonight?” Shin’s face was _almost_ impassive. There seemed to be a line of… hurt.

“Eh? N-No! There’s no one else! I was clearing up this… uh, misunderstanding, lost track of time. I wouldn’t try to miss our training on purpose, I swear!” Sena had actually lost complete control of his arms; they took a life of their own, and it seemed that their reason for living was to make sure Shin _emphatically_ knew that Sena had _no_ love life.

“Hm,” Shin said, contemplative. Shin let his stoicism slip a small bit. Again, that barely-there smile. Again, that little voice in the back of Sena’s mind at the sight. “Good. As I thought.”

Shin had been holding something at his side, a plain brown paper bag. It had a blue and white bow on it.

“I was in the area because I wanted to give you something, actually. I know it’s a little late for a birthday present.” Shin held out the bag. Sena’s arms froze above his head, then brought them rigidly down to his sides. He shuffled the twenty foot distance between them, his face heating up with every step, his fingers twitching. He could feel the beat of his heart thumping in his chest so loud that Shin probably heard it too. He felt like he lost his footing, unbalanced. It felt like before a game, where his nerves were being stretched and his teeth were on edge. It felt like a tipping point.

“I didn’t know you knew my birthday,” Sena said, having lost control of his brain-to-mouth filter. “I mean! I meant to say thank you! No! I meant to say I can’t!”

“Please accept it,” Shin said simply. The bag crinkled slightly in Shin’s grip. “It’s a thank you gift as well. I wanted to give it to you on New Year’s, but something was brought to my attention that sped up the process.”

“I… I…” Sena held out his hands in slack protest, but Shin took advantage of it and handed the present over. ‘He knows my birthday,’ the thought was quiet in his brain and comforting, like hot tea on a cold night. Shin looked intently at the gift, so Sena opened it. (His mom would be scandalized at such a rude action.) Inside was a blue tinted eye shield. It was cold in hand as he turned it over. On the left side temple was a decorative white knight riding its steed. ‘Oh God,’ Sena thought, knowing his face was more red than anything in the world at the moment. “Thank you, Shin-san,” he said, breathless.

“You are welcome,” Shin said. His impassiveness seemed a little less intense with the way his chest puffed out, like… like he was preening, contented. “I hope you wear it in a game.”

_(a tipping point)_

“Yes, of course,” _anything,_ Sena said, breathless. Hiruma would never let him, but Sena would find a way to sneak it on. “Um, our runs, I’ll be there. The usual spot, by the river. Next time,” _every time._

Shin nodded in self-satisfaction. “Good. I look forward to it. I’ll excuse myself, then.”

Sena walked Shin to the gate, their shoulders grazing against each other. The wind picked up, and Sena could smell the vague scent of cologne. Shin was less than an arm-width’s away from him. Sena’s heart was calm.

“See you, Shin-san.”

“Goodnight, Sena,” bowing politely.

Sena waved goodbye as Shin rounded the corner. Once he was sure Shin was gone, Sena clutched the eye shield to his chest and fell against the gate with relief, totally and completely deflated… but in a good way, in the best way.

‘Oh my God,’ he thought, staring up at the night sky. He was smiling. Sena went inside, jelly-legged but sure-footed, flitted past his parents’ sneaky glances, ran up the stairs, locked his door, and made a beeline to his phone. His fingers trembled as he texted Asari, writing and deleting his message a few times over.

* * *

 

_Text log with: Asari_

**_(9:09 pm): I’m sorry Asari-san, but I can’t accept your confession. I’m really very sorry, and I deeply apologize, but I can’t rightfully accept your confession, again I’m really really sorry! You seem very sweet, but I already have feelings for someone, and for that I’m truly sorry!_ **

_(9:12 pm): D:_

_(9:24 pm): well, I’m happy if you’re happy… that won’t stop me from being your biggest fan, but at least I know where I stand, and I appreciate that. also you don’t need to say sorry so many times!_

**_(9:24 pm): Yes, you’re right I’m sorry!_ **

* * *

 

Sena turned over on his bed and stuffed his head under his pillow for fear that it would drift off with how light it felt. ‘Is this what Asari-san felt like, talking to me before? Is this what Shin-san feels now?’ He hoped so. He thought so. ‘Actions speak louder than words, after all.’ Pitt mewled next to him, sensing his relief, and cuddled up to his side.

He was slightly worried that the other messages on his phone were similarly tangled and fixated on the fact that he got confessed to. It would be pretty simple to clear things up, though: He really was awful at talking to cute girls, but it didn’t matter as long as he was able to talk to a certain cute boy in particular.


End file.
